I have been trying, with only moderate success, to cook things on Sunday night that my husband and I can bring for sack lunch during the week. Partly this is to economize -- those $8 Indian food truck plate lunches and turkey in a pita add up fast -- and in part I do so because I’d much rather face my own chicken or pork tacos come 1 PM than a sad cup of soup from the Senate carry out, which diminishes me slightly as a human with every bite.

So this week I am going to be pretty excited to dig into my purse and pull out a container of Roast Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Artichokes. This is your basic browned chicken, finished in the oven with a soft stock-infused sauce, given a fun twist with artichokes and the greatly underappreciated Worcestershire sauce.

In fact, can we all stop here to have a moment of silence for this bottle of fun in your fridge, which predates the anchovy craze as a salt zapper, tastes great in burgers, lasts forever and is very, very hard to pronounce.

By the time you have your chicken browned up and ready to go into the oven, you should have those shallots and mushrooms cut up (you can buy precut organic mushrooms if you’re really in a hurry; tell whatever would-be Tom Colicchio hanging around your kitchen to hush, or at least open you a beer) as well as your rosemary prepped and your lemons squeezed. If you want to use good jarred artichokes I am not telling your mama.

I probably only had a cup of stock in the freezer; no matter my sauce came out perfectly. I think you can also make this sauce without flour but it will obviously be thinner -- a summer blanket for a plate still craving cashmere.

All told this is a 30 minute commitment (closer to 15 or 20 if you use boneless breasts) and with a side of, let’s say a nice farro salad, and you’ll be the envy of your block. And tomorrow, your office.

First: Old Randy Travis -- yes indeed! (With or even without the gin.)
Second: The Senate takeout soup -- is it the quality of the soup that leaves you feeling diminished, or that it comes from the U.S. Senate? (They used to do that famous bean soup -- haven't been there lately.)
Third: "..a summer blanket for a plate still craving cashmere." What a great line -- a keeper!
Thanks, Jenny!

This was a terrific dinner last night (and my husband appreciated the leftovers for lunch today)! I used white wine in place of chicken stock since I had an open bottle in the fridge and am out of chicken stock in my freezer. It was delicious - next time I'll use chicken stock, but wine is a good sub. Thanks again!